Summer and the Summer Moon Above
Friday gratefuls: Rabbi Jamie. Ann. Judaism. A ritual in Jerusalem. Mussar. God is Here. Metaphor. Constructing a life. Diane. Zoom. Sanctuary. The Ancient Brothers. Calming down. Learning. Reading. The lev. The tao. Chi. Chuang-tzu. Lao-tzu. Korea. Asia. My son and his wife. Taipei. The National Gallery. Art. A missing part of my life. Ruby. Her ongoingness. Kate, her memory a sweet blessing. Kep and Rigel, too.
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Burning through everything but love
One brief shining: The morning here on Shadow Mountain the bright blue Sky, Great Sol warming Lodgepoles and Aspens, a Dog barks a few houses away, a can of Mineral Water nearby, my mind slows down, focuses, tells my fingers what to write.
Pushed the conversion boat away from the pier yesterday. Rabbi Jamie and I met. I’m going to do a ten session course of study with him and probably a 30 session course later in the year from the Rocky Mountain Rabbinical Association. I want a broader grounding in matters Jewish. I will however become a member of the tribe in Jerusalem.
Having already arranged a ritual of conversion for two others in Jerusalem Rabbi Jamie offered me a chance to participate in it. It has three parts. A rabbinic court consisting of three Reconstructionist Rabbi’s will interview me for a half an hour or so. If they approve, then a drop of blood is taken from the head of my penis! After that, immersion in a mikvah, a ritual bath. After. I’m a Jew.
I will wear the kippah at services. When I go. Which is rarely because they’re at night. What I’m doing here is aligning my lev, my heart-mind, with my daily life. In my lev I converted a while ago. By that I mean I find the sacred manifest in the people among whom I live, and move, and have my becoming. Here in Colorado those people are Jews. I have a rabbi. And, a synagogue.
Not giving up my animism, my Great Wheel sensibilities, no. Adding to them a community, a people. And an ear to a 5,000 year old tradition focused on how to live a human, humane, and just life.
The tradition is that the Rabbi has to turn you away three times. Instead Rabbi Jamie has three reasons for not becoming a Jew and asks for a response to each of them. The first: other religions offer a reward after death. Judaism does not. So. Why go with Judaism? My response: Not sure about what happens after death, but I am sure it’s not a reward based moment. If there is a moment. The second: Anti-semitism. If you become a Jew, you step into the world of Jew hatred and become subject to it. My answer: I fight for those I love. Bring it on. The third: Anti-semitism from other Jews. Yes, converts will be treated differently by some. My response: That’s on them.
A final step for me before death. Anchoring myself to a people. Not an isolate, a member of a tribe. Though living alone in relative seclusion. As I want.
